You’ve never heard of the man who composed The Four Seasons, yet you feel compelled to complain about Americans not appreciating talent?

I couldn’t make that up if I tried.

You can’t accept something that goes against your worldview even when the Israeli government admits it.

Bullshit. I said “if” cause all your sources were first hand accounts from the victims. Give me a similar story about Hezbollah, and I’ll say the same (both times adding the qualifier that I’m not saying it’s not true). That’s just how I am.

And of course you know more about Dimeola’s fanbase than he himself does.

I never said that. Though where someone spends his time and money is usually an indication of how he feels himself.

I conceded a few of your points once I better understood what you were saying, but you can’t even admit that someone who can get thousands of people to see him (by your own words at least 2,000 if I remember correctly) isn’t quite as unappreciated as you were claiming.

Sure, people in other countries may appreciate him more, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t appreciated here.

Which was my only point, not to start some insipid argument with you about the fan base of an artist I’d never heard of before.

Maybe in thirty years you’ll be talking like me.

dave742 on July 30, 2008 at 8:51 PM

No offense to anyone over 50 here, but in 30 years I plan on having something better to do than discuss politics in an online forum. As the saying goes, it’s like running in the special Olympics.

I have talked for hours with people I disagree with and loved the experience, because they had true insight into issues that taught me something.

I really don’t believe you. The second I disagreed with you on something you jumped on me as though I’d tried to kill your first born.

I, on the other hand, actually do enjoy talking to people who disagree with me. It’s how I fell in love with my husband. We were polar opposites, and while we’ve now come to agree on a few issues, we still are. In fact, most of my friends disagree with me. Somehow I deal with it without calling them psychos and treating them with respect. I can’t imagine that in 30 years I’d want to stoop to your level and do otherwise.

You tend to get the responses from people that you expect, especially when you treat them that way.

Anyway, so far whatever insights you might have are certainly not introspective.

dave742 on July 30, 2008 at 9:18 PM

Why would I share my introspective thoughts with strangers, let alone a one like you who came in insulting everyone?

That’s a problem with people as they get older though. They tend to think in narcissistic terms. Even though you came in here, every bit the ass, insulting anyone who would bother reading this many pages in, you still expected people to treat your posts thoughtfully, even when you were being careless in writing them.

And in the end, you expect us to learn something from our encounter with you.

No, I don’t think you’re a kid in a basement. I believe you when you say you’re old enough to be my father. You fit right in with every negative stereotype said of that generation. It’s all about you.

And for the record, it’s painfully obvious that the only reason you ever thought I was even remotely intelligent is because I was agreeing with you.

Dozens of people on this thread had the same opinion about the cop as I had, and it makes no difference to me. I have talked for hours with people I disagree with and loved the experience, because they had true insight into issues that taught me something. You had an insight into human behavior and I recognized that, not the fact that you agreed with me. In contrast, most people’s analysis of myself on this site is that I’m a 20-year-old in my parents basement smoking pot, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Anyway, so far whatever insights you might have are crtainly not intospective.

And for the record, it’s painfully obvious that the only reason you ever thought I was even remotely intelligent is because I was agreeing with you.

I would agree with this if it was true. People have disagreed with me before (and I have been posting for a number a years) on these blogs and have actually brought up issues that have made me pause. Most times these issues that get brought up result in me researching the subject further and I find out the people were full of crap anyway, but at least they made me think. You made a comment that actually probed something a little deeper than the usual inane comment found here, and I thought that it signified a glimmer of real thought. But in the end you end up being worse than the rest. I have brought up the issue of Israel using human shields before a dozen times. None of the sociopaths on this site ever responded, because they recognize that this issue is incontroversial, given the Israeli governments admission of the problem. You, however, still must attribute doubt to the subject and try to minimize it “if” it is really true. You can’t accept something that goes against your worldview even when the Israeli government admits it. And of course you know more about Dimeola’s fanbase than he himself does. I do thank you, though. You have provided me with discussion material.
Maybe its your age. I was a complete imbecile when I was your age. Maybe in thirty years you’ll be talking like me.

dave742 on July 30, 2008 at 6:16 PM

And for the record, it’s painfully obvious that the only reason you ever thought I was even remotely intelligent is because I was agreeing with you.

I was right and “insightful” then, cause I was saying the same things you were, but once I disagreed with you, I was just like “them.”

That happens here all the time as well. Just as people immediately side with cops and soldiers, they also tend to label anyone who disagrees with their world view on any given subject as a liberal.

That’s one of the many reasons a utopia without brainwashing would fail the moment it’s tried. Not even like-minded people can accept differing opinions without getting pissy and sometimes downright maniacal.

And now I’ve just described you as one of “them”/us, insulting as many people as possible in the process. Awesome.

But I have a dinner date with a grateful owner and crew for a great overnight sail that lasted over 22 hrs. I’ll check back later or maybe tomorrow if this amaZing thread still exists.

very nice, enjoy!!!

jerrytbg on July 30, 2008 at 6:28 PM

None of the threads cease to exist. They just go off of the front page.

beefytee on July 30, 2008 at 5:59 PM

I stand by my remarks that the “videotog” knew there was going to be a confrontation…
Why else would he/she have panned to cover the exact location of the take down?
And why did that video show up ,(as I’ve been told), on cm’s website within minutes?
I’d love to carry this exchange on and maybe later….
But I have a dinner date with a grateful owner and crew for a great overnight sail that lasted over 22 hrs. I’ll check back later or maybe tomorrow if this amaZing thread still exists.

dave742 on July 30, 2008 at 6:16 PM

I said that I wasn’t saying it’s not true.

You get heated over the smallest things. How can you ever have a conversation with someone who disagrees with you?

You expect people to be civil to you and treat your responses as intellectual greatness after calling everyone here psychopaths. I don’t understand where the hell the stick up your @ss came from, but I can’t say I really care.

People like you can’t handle differing opinions and thus don’t stay here long anyway.

Just for the fun of it I looked at various definitions of “tagged” in the Ms Word dictionary…
Take your pick…

jerrytbg on July 30, 2008 at 6:04 PM

So I’m tagged because I believe the video is not staged. Because I (who happen to live in NYC)Have seen this on my local news, local papers and read/seen/heard comments from other police officers about this clip.

Who would the staging of this video benefit? Critical Mass are not anti police. CM relies on the NYPD all the time, and as far as I can tll, they have a decent working relationship. Would it benefit the cop who is currently without his badge? I’m just interested to hear the vast left wing conspiracy that must have come together in the staging of this video…Did Michael Moore film it? Oliver Stone maybe?

If true

God damn why did I think you have any sense. This issue is so “true” that Israel had to make a law to stop the practice, which then continued on anyway. Funny that Israel would make a law to stop a practice that still had not been verified. The practice has resulted in Palestinians being shot, not just rocks. You are as pathetic as the rest. Last time I get fooled.

oh geeze…you’re tagged…well… if you’re a member of cm then …you know…didn’t you get the memo? lol!!!

jerrytbg on July 30, 2008 at 5:40 PM

please repeat in way I can understand

dave742 on July 30, 2008 at 4:21 PM

By the way, your links are really unconvincing.

If true, and I’m not saying they’re not, then they’re closer to the case that started this thread rather than what Hezbollah has been accused of doing in regards to using human shields.

If true, it’s certainly horrible (don’t misunderstand me as saying otherwise), but in that case, the “shields” were being used against rocks which were being thrown at soldiers who were firing back with plastic bullets.

It would be like our cops here trying to stop a riot and hiding behind civilians. It’s bad, and the cops would hopefully at least lose their jobs if not more, but I don’t see how you can compare it to what that group has been accused of doing, which, if true, has led to many civilian deaths rather than injuries.

I’m not at all denying that Israel has it’s own issues. This isn’t a black and white issue, where Israel is always right and Hezbollah always wrong. Even Hitler made his contributions to society.

USrael is good. Muslims are evil.

dave742 on July 30, 2008 at 4:31 PM

Give me a break, dave. I never said as much. I’ve been completely honest here and have been trying to have a discussion with you.

You’ve made it difficult by continuing to broaden the discussion, but I never once said what you’re claiming.

I’m trying to understand where you’re coming from, but I honestly don’t get it.

Give up if you want. You’ve already got a few stories to make fun of us “psychos” with so you and your wife can have something to discuss at dinner.

For some reason I’d started to think you would actually have a meaningful dialog.

Oh, well. I’ll try anyway.

Is the attack then justified?

Let me state first off that I’m not making necessarily saying that all attacks on militaries are justified either. In the original context, you’re talking about Jews during the Holocaust, a group which was specifically targeted to be wiped off the planet. Those who didn’t run or hide (and even some who did) were slaughtered.

That’s an entirely different concept unless you’re going to say that Al Qaeda was being slaughtered by the US and that attack was the only way to stop it.

What counts is what a reasonable person would expect the result of their actions to be.

I know. My mother’s a lawyer, and I helped her study for the bar.

However, war is different, and it’s also different when you’re fighting a war as a civilian population or as a military.

It’s these variables that make answering your yes or no questions difficult if not impossible.

Who is “targeted” makes no difference, legally, and, more important, morally. What counts is results.

That isn’t entirely true. If you target someone but don’t actually kill that person, you can still be found in violation of the law, and in violation of certain morals.

There is a lot of gray here. I don’t deny that. But I have an easier time understanding the cause of the side that would rather give up military information through radio broadcasts and pamphlets than the side that wants to kills as many civilians as it can.

It doesn’t matter that they are targeting a “combatant” (who, by the way, was not actively fighting, and is the equivalent of an IDF soldier at home visiting his family).

During the Lebanon War, a reporter from a mainstream media outlet interviewed a Hezb’allah fighter in his apartment. He proudly showed off his weapons cache. Some was stored in a kitchen closet, some was hidden under a crib.

IDF soldiers don’t store RPGs at home. At most they have their service weapon.

Sometimes unarmed Israeli soldiers are attacked at roadside waiting to hitchhike home. Are they fair game? Was the Centralia Massacre a legitimate military operation or a war crime?